


Calex Christmas drabbles

by bumblebear30



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Christmas Party, F/F, calex - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:14:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28369710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bumblebear30/pseuds/bumblebear30
Summary: This will be a short series of Casey and Alex and some of their Christmases as their relationship develops.Starts, as all good things do, with an office Christmas party and some well placed mistletoe.Ratings will change as updates get written...
Relationships: Alexandra Cabot/Casey Novak
Comments: 19
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of fun to keep me entertained over the festive break and to avoid writing the fic I've been working on for ages 😂 Not been beta'd or anything so if there are any major errors I might edit.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

Casey sighed lightly as she gripped the cold beer bottle in her hand and surveyed the general chaos of the bar around her. It was the precinct's Christmas eve party and she'd gotten there late due to the sudden dump of snow that had ground all of New York to a halt. She noticed she still had some melted drops on her dark green festive sweater despite her best attempts of clearing it. 

After saying hello to a few people and seeing a few colleagues already well into their drinks some movement at the door caught her attention. She watched with caught breath as none other than Alex Cabot arrived, snow in her hair and somehow managing to look both cautious and frustrated at the same time. 

"Alex!" Alex looked up and a flash of relief and warmth at the sound and sight of Casey in front of her, "how'd you get roped into joining us here?"

Hanging up her coat Alex made her way over to Casey giving her a quick smile in greeting... "I was meant to be joining some family out of the city but the snow is coming down so thick there isn't a chance of me getting anywhere," 

Casey could see she why and understand her earlier look of frustration, they both worked too hard and any kind of get away was always a rare thing, to then have those plans change last minute was just a bit cruel. 

"That's sucks I'm sorry Alex, "

Letting out a quiet sigh and seeming to shake off her usual tired but purposeful business like demeanour Alex suddenly managed to look much more relaxed and Casey felt her breath get caught in her throat. She thought she'd been dealing and hiding with her persistent crush on the blonde but then there Alex was stood right in front of her, somehow looking adorable in casual jeans and a red Christmas jumper, the white snowflake pattern picking up just how blonde her hair was and still as drop dead gorgeous as when she strutted round the courts in her several thousand dollar Armani tailored suits... 

"Thanks Case," Casey's heartbeat tripped at the nickname being softly uttered and realised she was gaping slightly as Alex continued to smile gently at her, both seemed to snap out of whatever moment they'd just shared at the same time. Alex finally looked past Casey to the slightly rowdy and busy bar, full of familiar faces from the precinct and medical office as everybody cut a bit loose after a hectic year,

"Liv more or less demanded I come here seeing as I couldn't originally make it." 

Her eyes teasingly flicked to Casey, almost as if she was sizing up the redhead from the corner of her eye, "silver linings I suppose"

The look sent heat spiralling through Casey who took a too deep gulp from her beer to compensate,

"Oh totally," she turned and used her hand, still holding the bottle to motion to some tables at the back, "I think I saw Liv, Elliot and Munch over there a bit earlier, haven't made it that far in yet..." 

Alex gave Casey one of her biggest smiles and gently touched just above her wrist as she past by the other woman, both of them still keeping eye contact as they turned 180 degrees so Alex could move further into the crowded bar, 

"I'd best go let her know I'm here," she tipped her head to the side as if trying to weigh up a decision, "catch you for a drink later?" 

Trying hard to hide her eagerness - she really needed to get a grip on this crush she scolded herself mentally - Casey gave an emphatic nod and wide smile, tipping her bottle in salute to Alex before taking another sip, 

"I'll hold you to that!" 

***  
Casey had been having a surprisingly entertaining time at the party, thankfully Melinda had rescued her after she'd been cornered by that over keen technician who definitely couldn't take a hint and she'd enjoyed generally catching up with the various officers and detectives she saw day in and day out. She was nursing her drink - knowing she needed a clear head for tomorrow, but many of those around her were definitely not and part of her enjoyed the normally serious group got dafter and more raucous as time went on. 

After a particularly ill fated attempt at a wheel barrow race which Elliot and Munch won despite both being old enough to know better, Alex spied Casey taking a quiet break leaning against a wall as she silently grinned at the chaotic antics. 

From the corner of her eye the familiar flash of blonde hair moving through the crowd unconsciously drew Casey's focus, as it always did lately. When Alex suddenly veered to the left towards her and met Casey's face with a grin and uptick of her brow Casey felt her breath hitch but covered it with a matching small smile and she pushed off from the wall to stand more upright, 

"I didn't know you were coming to see me," 

Alex laughed lightly, resting her shoulder on the wall Casey had been leaning against as the redhead automatically turnied to match her body language, 

"Well I did promise you a drink earlier, thought I'd better make good on the offer before this lot gets us all kicked out... " 

Both of them simultaneously looked over to where Fin was now coordinating shots, and Casey laughed at Alex when she witnessed her wincing at Olivia having several tequila slammers in a row. Catching the redhead's eye she shook her head gently, 

"She's going to regret that tomorrow..." she muttered exasperated but not unfondly. 

Chuckling Casey couldn't help but agree, 

"Particularly considering she said she was spending the day with the Stablers'," she gave a mock shudder, "far too many screaming kids around to also have a hangover..." 

"Oh I totally agree, they did both offer for me to join them tomorrow but it'd be far too much for me. I'll now be spending the day on my couch by myself with a bottle of wine," Alex shook herself from her disappointment at her foiled Christmas plans and motioned her head towards the now vacated bar, 

"Speaking of which, I did promise you a drink earlier, shall we?" 

Casey found herself trailing after Alex automatically, honestly she was thought she'd be more than happy to follow blonde quite anywhere. When the blonde lent against the bar, her red knitted jumper rode up enough to reveal a strip of tempting pale skin of her lower back, Casey felt a shock of arousal through her system and had only just regained her composure when Alex shot her a look over her shoulder which meant Casey had to start calming herself down all over again. Motioning to the now warm and nearly empty beer bottle clutched tightly in Casey's hand, Alex seemed oblivious to the effect she was having on the hapless redhead, 

"Can I get you something stronger than that? A scotch or anything else?" 

Dazedly Casey looked down at her own hand, and the bottle in it, before looking back up to Alex and blinking in confusion for a moment, 

"Oh! Uh no thank you, just another beer please. I've got to have my wits about me tomorrow unfortunately." 

With a smile and nod Alex placed the order for Casey's beer and a glass of wine for herself to the patiently waiting barman. With a chuckle Casey guessed Alex had never had to wait too long to be served, 

"So is it travelling or just a busy family?" 

Alex had turned to Casey, leaning against the bar with her hip and grinning softly as she faced Casey as they briefly waited for Alex's wine to be poured. Concerned she had missed some context to Alex's question Casey stepped in closer to hear her better, 

"Sorry, what was that?" 

Casey's breathing rate had increased as she came to realise just how focused Alex seemed to be on her. She almost wondered if she had somehow got food on her face with how closely the blonde seemed to be scrutinising her, 

"Tomorrow..." Alex's voice was softer but Casey was able to hear it just fine despite their raucous surroundings. Alex seemed to suddenly catch herself from whatever it had been about Casey's face that was distracting her. She gratefully accepted the drinks from the barman and swapped out Casey's beer bottles directly from her hand, 

"Are you having to travel somewhere or is it because you have a busy family that you aren't overindulging tonight-" a well timed crash echoed across the bar to be met with a momentary hush as whatever rookie had decided to dance on a chair was now laid in a heap next to it. When he finally bounced back up though it was to loud cheers which made Alex roll her eyes and Casey laugh, "- like the rest of the responsible adults here..." 

Casey quickly cheers-ed her bottle against Alex's glass and spotted a table and some high chairs in a quieter corner of the room for them to get out of the way of people clamouring to get their next drinks. With some relief they both hopped up onto their new perches - well rather Casey hopped, Alex seemed to rise and sit herself as elegantly as an angel perched on the top of the tree sat in the corner behind her thought the redhead. 

"To answer you finally, neither actually. I'm on call tomorrow and if I have to interrupt Lena Petrovksy's Christmas lunch for a warrant I don't want to do it whilst feeling nauseous and without all my ducks in a row..." 

Alex - rather adorably Casey thought - giggled at Casey's scrunched up facial expression, 

" No I can't see Lena taking that well at all!" they shared a knowing smile as Alex sipped at her wine," I hadn't realised you were on though, I thought Pippa had caught the short straw??" 

Casey nodded, 

"She did, but I offered to swap for her, as she's got young kids you know," she fiddled with the label on her beer bottle even as she shrugged her shoulders, "whereas I'm single-" she was pleased to control her blush and only dart her eyes away from Alex's for a moment "- and on my own this year as Mom and Dad have gone west to see my brother and their new baby, so it gave me something to fill the day with..." 

A genuine warmth seemed to suffuse Alex's eyes as she held Casey's slightly embarrassed gaze, the blonde reach over and squeezed Casey's hand for a moment, 

"That was a really kind thing for you to do Novak," 

Casey had no chance in controlling the scarlet blush that now radiated from her cheeks, she just hoped the brightly coloured fairy lights might hide the worst of it, 

"Yeah, well don't go spreading it around, I have a reputation to uphold you know..." she tried to nonchalantly drink her beer whilst Alex shot her a teasing smile,

"For totally being a secret softy? Yeah I already kinda knew that one Casey." 

Maybe it was the soft lighting, warmth of the room, general frivolity of the season and the current giddiness of the rest of the bar's incumbents, but Casey suddenly felt much more drunk than she should've done in only starting her third beer in several hours... But as Alex leaned back on her chair with a grin and teasing tilt to her chin and quirk of her eyebrow, Casey suddenly realised she was probably feeling lightheaded for another reason... God the woman was going to be the death of her. It was most likely a unconscious stubborn reaction to this prior thought that made her speak next without fully considering what she was saying, 

"Well as my secret is out, why don't you join me tomorrow?" 

It was Alex's turn to almost choke on her drink, lightly coughing into the back of her hand as she tried to clear the chablis from her airways, 

"Join you? On call? I mean I know I know people say I'm married to the job Casey but-" 

"No no!" Casey was quick to leap in and correct her assumption. She'd finally been brave enough to actually - impulsively - ask Alex to spend time with her (even if the circumstances where quite unorthodox), and she'd be damned if she messed it up now. 

"I meant for like the day or like Christmas lunch, if you wanted... Obviously no pressure, but I was just thinking you've probably not got any food in as you were meant to be away whereas I have way too much for just myself. Plus you know the score for having to interrupt the day with calls and that." she could see Alex was looking at her a little oddly, she hoped the expression didn't mean the blonde was trying to find an excuse to turn her down. Casey shrugged again and placed her hands flat on the table so she wouldn't keep playing nervously with her beer bottle, 

"Just if you were actually going to spend the day on your couch drinking wine then you are very welcome to come drink my wine on my couch too - if you fancied the company or whatever..." 

Her nerves failed her at the end and Casey glanced away, pretending to look at whatever antics the detectives had gotten into so she didn't have to look at Alex as she turned her down. As it was, she missed how the blondes eye's sparkled particularly bright, 

"Actually that sounds pretty perfect to me," 

Alex soft words caused Casey's head to whip back to her, 

"Really?" 

Alex had leaned forward onto the table now, her hand curled up under her chin as she grinned at Casey, 

"Totally, I'd be delighted to accept." 

Slightly dumbstruck Casey floundered, 

"Awesome! Great, yeah cool." Internally she was panicking, she just hoped she'd be able to be more verbose tomorrow when Alex spent Christmas with her... In her apartment... She quickly glanced at the beautiful blonde to see she had turned to the side to watch their normally composed detectives try and navigate an impromptu limbo competition and found herself completely entranced with how gorgeous she looked with the coloured lights shining off her hair and a laugh tugging at the corner of her mouth. Oh God, tomorrow was going to be torturous, she really had to try get her crush under control.... 

***

Thankfully Casey regained her usual proficient powers of speech and her and Alex actually spent quite a while just chatting with each other - yes they'd finalised plans for tomorrow but they'd also just talked about everything and anything and it had made Casey feel inordinately content. It had made the evening the best office Christmas party she'd ever been too for sure, and she studiously ignored the part of her brain that was pointing out how much more enjoyable it had been to any other dates - first or otherwise - that she'd been on in quite some time. Alex was charming - because, well, of course she was - and Casey simply adored getting to see her outside of their usual work settings and getting to relax and laugh and smile. She was much more quick to tease than Casey would ever have imagined - again ignoring that little voice of reason that pointed out that she had indeed imagined - and the butterflies she'd been desperately trying to control for months whenever she and Alex interacted - even just catching the others' eyes in a meeting so that one of them could roll them at whatever drivel was being spouted out by the new clueless administration, had firmly escaped and were fluttering around her like crazy. 

Their little bubble was finally interrupted though - both of them quite surprised that they'd been able to avoid everyone else for quite as long as the did - by Fin of all people. He'd managed to get hold of a Polaroid camera from somewhere and was determinedly taking pictures of everyone he could find despite being questionably capable of holding the thing steady as he swayed lightly on his feet. Olivia appeared by his side though and declared herself his artistic assistant... What that entailed exactly was lost on Casey who just seemed to be having 'gorgeous, smile with your eyes - smile Casey, SMIZE' yelled at her as Fin waved her to lean in towards Alex across the table. 

Finally the two artists seemed pleased with their masterful composition and Fin took the photo. He passed it over to Alex so it could develop and seemed ready to move on to the next unsuspecting victim when Olivia pulled him back, 

"Wait Odafin! I know what'll make it better," she darted forward and pulled Casey to her feet, doing the same to Alex who muttered quietly in Olivia's ear warningly as she got to her feet. Casey couldn't hear the words but Olivia got a downright mischievous look in her eye as she stepped back, "Okay, now hug each other!" 

"Olivia!" Alex's exasperation was clear and it made the normally stoic detective descend into giggles as Fin brought the camera up again, 

"Come on now Teflon, smile!" 

"Oh for God's sake!" laughing out a huff Alex raised her right arm whilst looking at Casey, "quick or they'll never leave us alone!" 

With a laugh Casey stepped in and wrapped her left arm lightly around the back of Alex's waist, feeling the blonde mirror her position as they both turned to the would-be photographers for their picture. 

"Ah shit I think I took two, here ya go!" Fin handed over the small white squares and spotted Munch calling for him, immediately being followed after by Olivia. 

In a stunned silence the two prosecutors watched the motley crew make their way, Casey turned to look at the two pictures that were developing in her hand. With a grin she nudged at Alex's hip with her elbow, 

"Look, they actually managed a good picture," 

Alex practically leant over Casey's shoulder to see the images and Casey could feel the happy hum she gave vibrate through her as she picked one of the pictures - it was the one Fin must've taken before they were ready as their faces were turned towards each other as they settled into their side-arm hug, 

"I'll keep this one," she grinned, almost playfully, at Casey as she slipped the picture into her back pocket. Casey couldn't help but be mesmerised by her blue eyes as she retreated slightly, but was still very much in Casey's space. 

It meant went an overly exuberant couple of unis who were trying to start a conga line accidently barged into them, pushing them towards the back wall behind the Christmas tree, Casey ended up instinctively wrapping both her arms around Alex's hips to steady them.

Once confident they weren't going to take the tall spruce down with them Casey looked up and was met by a breathless but bashful looking Alex, their faces close enough that Casey could feel her slightly too quick breaths panting against her own lips. 

Wetting her lower lip - a move that simply caused Casey's mouth to go drier- Alex gave a Casey a small grin, 

"Thank you," 

Casey was caught, her body and mind overwhelmed at Alex being so close, and in her arms that she couldn't figure out the steps to take to disentangle themselves. 

Alex seemed to be enjoying watching the gentle flush reappear on Casey's cheeks. Casey watched entranced as her eyes drifted further upwards and she smirked lightly. 

Following her gaze Casey looked up to see a sprig of mistletoe suspended exactly over their heads. Well shit. 

Both of their gazes dropped from the ceiling to meet the other woman's at the same moment. 

Casey met Alex's small smirk with a quirk of her eyebrow, despite her internal panicking she was determined not to let on just how affected she was in having the blonde so close and held against her still,

"Do you want to?" Alex smiled playfully as she spoke and shifted closer. Her hand gently coming to rest on the front of Casey's shoulder as she quickly glanced around them to ensure they had some relative privacy,

"Isn't it bad luck or something if you don't?" Casey was desperately trying to work out how she got into this situation... And just what the hell she was going to do, "can't have that in our line of work, can we?"

"Exactly! You don't need any other excuses to overtake my conviction rates. .." Casey gasped in mock offense - she already knew she was ahead of Alex's conviction rates but, to be fair, she didn't have the same administrative workload as the blonde did too,

"Whatever you need to tell yourself Cabot..."

They were a similar height, particularly with Alex out of her usual strappy heels for much more sensible boots given the weather. So Casey mused that she didn't have to reach up, or down, to kiss her, chiding herself further for such a thought even occurring to her. 

Resolved though that this might be her only chance ever to kiss Alex she dipped her head forward, aiming for a socially acceptable kiss on the cheek, but at the last moment Alex tilted her face just so and Casey nearly had a heart attack as she realised she was actually kissing Alex Cabot on the lips... And the blonde wasn't exactly pulling away either...

They were soft, tasted just faintly of her wine from earlier and Alex smelled of nutmeg and cinnamon and Casey felt her stomach twist in happiness and a deeper darker heat of want. It took all of her self control to not back Alex up against the wall and kiss her more deeply... 

Her body stilled as she finally realised what they were doing, and where, and that a lot of their closest colleagues were also there, their privacy only just ensured by a slightly too large Christmas tree that someone could walk past at any time. 

Pulling back, she silently looked at Alex as the blonde slowly opened her eyes. She smiled coyly at Casey but grew concerned the longer the other woman looked up at with a slightly shocked expression,

"Oh god, had I read this totally wrong?"

Mortification crept through Alex's veins, a cold prickly dread freezing her blood even as her cheeks started flushing a bright hot red. The growing horror on Alex's face finally snapped Casey out of her kiss induced stupor,

"Wait Alex, no," she reached out and grasped the blondes elbow, her other arm still loosely gripping around her waist. At her touch some tension leaked from Alex's shoulders and she was able to meet Casey's slightly sheepish look, "I - uh, I guess I just was a little surprised is all."

With a small giggle Alex relaxed further into Casey,

"Really?" Casey felt herself blush further under Alex's now flirtatious look, becoming conscious of how close the gorgeous blonde now was to her, "and here I thought you were pretty good at picking up on things..." 

Casey had gotten lost in watching Alex's lips move and it took a couple of moments for her to register the actual words she'd said, 

"What is it I should've been picking up on exactly?" 

"That I've been trying to flirt with you for the past couple of months at least..." 

A sudden montage of their previous interactions ran through Casey's head, she realised that Alex had indeed been paying her more attention - offering to fetch them coffee between arraignment, seeking her out at meetings, raising a laugh or a smile with dry quips or jokes. She suddenly appreciated that the blonde had walked quicker to see her, smiled more brightly at her than others but Casey had been so caught up in her own feelings and internal gay panic (surely understandable when around someone as stunning as Alex), that she hadn't necessarily noticed the intention behind it all.

"Oh, shit, I hadn't realised... I'm pretty oblivious about things like that..." she looked at Alex aghast before starting to giggle, the blonde would've been concerned had Casey not continued to hold into her, "Ironically I'd kinda been wanting to ask you out for a bit but hadn't quite worked out if you'd be interested..." 

Grinning wickedly Alex draped her arms over Casey's shoulders to pull herself closer, tilting her head slightly as she dipped to kiss Casey once again, 

"Well, to be clear, I am very interested in-"

"Alex! There you are! Stop trying to flirt with Casey and help me! " Liv blithely interrupted them, practically leaping between the two of them and, using Casey's body as human shield, she physically moved Alex too till both of the tall lawyers were unexpectedly providing a wall between Olivia and the rest of the bar,

"LIV, what the fuck!" Alex loved her best friend but right now she was ready to consider how she could get away with murdering her in a bar full of cops. But the past tipsy detective was ignoring her and peering round them. Casey tried to take a calmer approach,

"Olivia, why are you hiding?"

The detective stilled and looked at her with distress in her large brown eyes, her lower lip almost trembling in a pout,

"Cassidy has just walked in with this tiny blonde on his arms and I can't see him!"

Alex and Casey shared a look as the blonde exhaled slowly. In the ongoing saga of Olivia's poor dating choices Alex was firmly in the anti-Cassidy camp, her poor opinion of the man allowed to come out after he'd broken up with Olivia yet again. Chancing a quick look behind her to see if the coast was clear she gave a quick sigh as she reached out to hold Olivia's hand,

"Do you want me to take you home?"

Olivia's lower lip jutted out even further as she nodded, Casey made a mental note to tease her about it when she wasn't quite so distressed... Or inebriated. She touched Alex's lower back to get her attention,

"Go wait at the door, I'll grab your coats."

Alex wordlessly agreed with a grateful smile that reached her eyes and softened her whole face.

When Casey met them outside the bar with the necessary jackets and scarves Alex still had the same soft look on her face, even if it did disappear momentarily as she had to help the uncoordinated Olivia into her sleeves. Hailing down a cab she bundled the detective into the back seat and paused at the open door, turning back to Casey who had had to wrap her arms around herself to keep warm as the occasional snowflake settled on her hair and eyelashes, 

"Thank you for tonight Casey,"

Grinning the redhead stepped forward to stand next to Alex, 

"I think I should be the one thanking you Alex,"

Releasing a quick laugh Alex quickly leant over and kissed her chilly cheek, 

"Is it still okay if I come round for lunch?"

"More than okay, let me know when you get home safe?"

Alex chanced a look down at Olivia who had managed to get her own seat belt on, 

"I will, and Casey?" 

"Yeah?" Casey adored how Alex looked dusted in snow and in glowing light that spilled from the bar and street lights, they made the blonde almost glow, 

"Merry Christmas." 

Chuckling Casey returned the sentiment and waited till Alex got in and the cab drove off. 

A very merry Christmas indeed.


	2. Great Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it's one year on from the magical mistletoe night and our two favourite prosecutors find themselves creating some of their own new Christmas traditions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me far longer to write this up than I anticipated but I'm glad to see so many people enjoyed the last chapter! I hope this one is to your satisfaction too.

"Casey!!!" 

Alex's slightly distressed shout cut through the quietly playing Christmas songs and echoed through her apartment,

"Yes babe? You okay?" a startled Casey appeared in the living room door and immediately began visually checking Alex over to see if she was injured or in dire need of some form of emergency help. Instead, the blonde seemed to not be in mortal peril. Although by the way she was looking at her normally tidy coffee which Casey may have turned into a Christmas crafting and wrapping station, Casey wondered if maybe she was the one who might need to call for help in a bit...

Trying not to hyperventilate at the sheer amount of loose glitter that was perilously close to the edge of the table Alex turned to her girlfriend and only just stopped herself from stamping her foot petulantly as she motioned to the table,

"What is this?! I can't find my phone, I left it there and need to call Uncle Bill about tomorrow."

Giving a quick relieved sigh Casey stepped past Alex, placing a quick kiss on her cheek as she went to settle herself on the thick soft white rug that now sat between the low table and the cosy fireplace. The redhead had initially teased Alex without end when the blonde had unveiled the rug which was only placed there for winter time, but when Alex had given a fairly hands-on demonstration of the perks in having such a soft flat surface near the fire it had immediately become one of Casey's favourite furnishings in the whole of the other woman's apartment,

"I needed somewhere to finish up wrapping and the cards and didn't want to upset your files on the table or office." 

Alex's frustration immediately lessened as she realised how thoughtful Casey had tried to be. There had been the usual seasonal rush of new cases and she’d run out of room trying to keep all the paperwork linked to the right files. She shot Casey a grateful, slightly apologetic, look as the redhead started wrapping a bottle of scotch with almost military precision. Her focus and general appearance was utterly adorable but Alex could still feel her fingers itching to tidy up,

"Okay, but the glitter..."

"Will be tidied up in just a second," Casey looked up from getting her bits of sticky tape ready and tried to give her most reassuring smile to the nervously shifting blonde, "I promise to not get any on the floor."

Seeing Casey sat crossed legged on her floor in soft trackies and a light green Christmas elf jumper, looking up at her with such an earnest and genuine, if not slightly cheeky, grin on her face melted the last bit of resistance Alex had to the current 'crafting' situation,

"Okay, but I still need to find my cell."

Casey had already picked up some ribbon and scissors, focusing on measuring out the correct length she used the blades to motion behind her,

"I plugged it in to charge in the kitchen, next to a glass of red wine for you."

With Casey focussing on tying the right type of bow, trying so hard to make sure the two tails of the ribbon were the right length, she didn't realise Alex had stepped close to her till she felt two warm familiar hands cup her cheeks and tilt her head up so she could have a firm kiss planted on her lips, 

"How are you so perfect?" 

Keeping her eyes closed after the kiss Casey could feel Alex's soft question against her skin as the blonde ran her fingers through the hair at her temples, 

"I don't know about that, if I was perfect then I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be having to wrap everything this late on Christmas Eve..."

Her typical sass made Alex chuckle as she nipped to the kitchen to pick up her cell and the wine Casey had poured for her,

“It’s not your fault your boss has been having to assign you all these extra cases at the moment,”

Casey smirked up at her as Alex settled on the couch,

“Yeah, she can be a real hard-ass,” Alex gave her a pretentiously serious look over the top of her wine glass making Casey chuckle and crawl over the few steps to the couch,

“Oh, is that so?” she smirked as Casey rose on her knees in front of her.

“Without a doubt, she’s just lucky I’m quite fond of that ass,” Casey was still grinning cheekily as Alex cupped her jaw and pulled in for a kiss, “particularly when she wears those pencil skirts and heels all the time…” Alex gave a loud laugh as she lightly shoved Casey away from her,

“You’re just lucky the DA’s office is too overstretched that one of us didn’t have to get reassigned when we declared, and I could continue to wear those skirts for you.” Alex sipped at her reclaimed wine as Casey sat back on her heels, her eyes shining in victory,

“I knew you wore them to tease me.”

Her response made Alex give a giggle even as she smirked into her glass, 

“I plead the fifth.”

Narrowing her eyes playfully Casey tried to stare her down. Alex matched her gaze though and Casey knew from experience that she didn’t have time for one of their stare-offs.

“Fine, keep your secrets Cabot. I have some more last-minute wrapping to do anyway.”

Tucking her legs under her Alex watched as Casey folded herself back down at the low coffee table, very much struck at how content she felt in just relaxing in the other woman’s presence in her apartment. She was pulled from her musings when she saw a particularly recognisable and expensive bottle of red wine suddenly appear in Casey’s hands to be wrapped,

“Who the hell in your life is important enough to merit a bottle of Cabernet from Hundred Acre?” She couldn’t help the spike of jealousy that shot through her, she knew Casey well enough by now to know she wouldn’t be wrapping Alex’s gifts right in front of her, and that wine was… fancy.

She was not reassured when Casey’s hands stilled mid-taping and she shot her a slightly guilty look from the corner of her eyes. It made Alex place her glass down and shift forward to the edge of the couch,

“Casey? Who is the wine for?” 

Avoiding her inquisitive gaze Casey spurred into motion again and continued to wrap the gift,

“I needed something to give to your Uncle Bill tomorrow,” she finally mumbled. She could feel her cheeks flush in embarrassment at being caught out, “I remembered your aunt saying it was among his favourites when we had that meal out in the Hamptons.”

It’s not often that Alex Cabot found herself stumped, but the past year with Casey she had found herself often being left dumbfounded at the redhead’s thoughtfulness, as well as her memory for detail. But then given their shared profession she really shouldn’t find that too surprising,

“That meal was like eight months ago Casey, how on earth did you remember that?” 

The surprise in Alex’s voice made Casey look up at her,

“It was the first time I’d met them,” the ‘as-your-girlfriend’ part of her sentence didn’t need to be said, she flicked her eyes back down bashfully as she wrote out a quick label, “I was just paying attention.”

The admission melted Alex’s heart that little bit more. She remembered being nervous herself at the meal in question, it was an unusual step for her to introduce someone to her family as early in the relationship as she had been with Casey, but it had simply felt natural to share the cause of her happiness when her aunt had pointed out ‘how well’ she’d looked on several occasions until Alex had promised to introduce them all. She’d known her own nervousness had been picked up on by Casey but she hadn’t realised the redhead had understood how important a step it had been for her to take, nor that she had been listening so attentively.

“Sweetheart, you know you didn’t have to get him anything,” Alex shifted down to kneel at the other side of the table in her attempt to reassure Casey, “just you joining us for the evening was more than enough.”

Barely able to contain her exasperation Casey rolled her eyes, 

“Alex, not only is he a high-court judge, he is your Uncle, your family,” she threw up her hands, “I couldn’t just turn up empty handed! Particularly on Christmas Day!” 

Alex bit her tongue to stop herself from smiling at how adorable Casey looked as she huffed at her,

“But you wouldn’t be empty handed,” she eventually managed to mumble at the redhead, her own cheeks reddening when she realised she had said the words aloud.

“What?” Casey looked at her in confusion, trying to mentally think of any other gift she was meant to have get instead. Alex eventually looked down, thoroughly embarrassed as she fiddled with her nails,

“Well, you’d be holding my hand,” hopefully she thought to herself even as she cringed ever so slightly at just how sappy she sounded. She tried to play off how vulnerable she was by straightening her spine and pretending to wipe some lint off her knees, “That alone would be enough for my aunt or uncle.”

When she finally felt brave enough to look up she found Casey gazing at her, head tilted to the side as she looked on with such open and unabashed affection written across her face,

“And you call me the secret softy.”

Thoroughly embarrassed Alex picked up a small balled up ribbon that was in front of her and lobbed it half-heartedly at the now chuckling Casey,

“Oh please, there’s no secret about it.” The mirroring of such a similar conversation a year ago made both women grin at the other and Alex felt her usual confidence returning,

“Well, if you got my uncle a $150 bottle of wine for Christmas, I can’t wait to see what you got me for our anniversary.”

“Anniversary?” Casey looked suddenly pale, they hadn’t discussed anything explicitly but Alex had always thought of Christmas eve, with their first kiss under the mistletoe, as marking the start of their relationship. She leant forward and took another sip of her wine as she pinned Casey with a playful look,

“But of course, surely a date as memorable as Christmas Eve is easy to remember even for a busy over-worked social servant such as yourself.”

Casey grinned and set about carefully tidying up the bits of glitter that had so concerned Alex initially,

“Whilst I fully acknowledge that Christmas Eve last year was indeed memorable,” her twinkling eyes met Alex’s, “I seem to recall that our first date was Christmas lunch – at my apartment.” 

As Casey stood to stow away the wrapping supplies and shift the gifts to under the tree Alex returned to her original position on the couch. She continued to watch as Casey puttered about, finally sighing to herself that everything was as tidy as could be, “So, it would follow then that tomorrow is our anniversary.” The redhead seemed pleased to have thought of a suitable counterargument, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch to Alex 

“I bought you a drink, we talked for hours on non-work-related topics, we had our first kiss and then I gave you a kiss goodnight having made plans to see you again.” She stood and sassily tapped Casey on her nose as she passed, smiling as the redhead frowned at her disgruntled, “that my dear, was a first date.”

Casey stood and followed her into the kitchen, Alex poured her a glass after Casey nodded in agreement to the drink. Bracing herself against the countertop Alex turned with a sly grin as she handed Casey her glass, purposefully trailing her fingers along Casey’s,

“Besides do you honestly think I would’ve been kissing you like I did last Christmas if that was our first date?” she arched her eyebrows challengingly at Casey as she blushed at the memories, “just what kind of woman did you take me for Miss Novak…”

Her teasing and faux indignation pulled a good-natured laugh from Casey who stepped up and wrapped her arms around Alex’s waist as she answered,

“One who is entirely too good with words and is well aware of the effect she has on me,” with a grin she pulled an all to willing Alex closer to her, “so happy anniversary I guess then darling.” She dipped her head forward to catch Alex’s lips in a soft kiss, entirely reminiscent of their first under the mistletoe. But unlike a year ago when Casey felt the desire to deepen the kiss, to press against Alex, she was able to do so, and she sighed lightly as Alex melted against her.

Casey lost herself in the feeling of Alex’s lips against her own, even more so when the blonde lightly sucked on her lower lips and teased it with the tip of her tongue. She was just about to suggest an alternative form of exercise for the evening when Alex was suddenly hiding her head in Casey’s shoulder and giggling so hard she was almost in tears,

“What?! What is it?” slightly concerned Casey tried to pull back to see Alex’s face, the blonde woman eventually having to remove her glasses to wipe away the moisture from her eyes, “what did I do?”

Alex arched her back just far enough so that she could remain in Casey’s arms as she tried to regain her composure and catch her breath,

“I’m so sorry love, I was just thinking about last year and suddenly remembered your face when you fell off the couch…” In trying to explain herself Alex ended up descending into another fit of laughter,

“Oh I see, was this when you practically pounced on me after we’d had lunch?”

Still chuckling Alex nodded and reached up to tuck some of Casey’s hair behind her ear, “I couldn’t help myself any longer, you looked far too adorable and nervous just sat there looking at me.” 

“And what I also remember,” Casey’s eyes flashed with amusement, “is how bruised my ass was from that fall! It took two weeks for the bruise to fade.”

“Aww poor baby,” Alex leant forward to kiss Casey’s cheek as she trailed her hands up Casey’s arms and across her shoulders, “but I also distinctly recall I tried to kiss it better on several occasions.”

“Very true, such commendable devotion to my recovery was not unrewarded though, no?” 

Grinning slyly Alex couldn’t help but agree,

“Indeed it was,” she had to step back for a moment before they got too caught up, “but seeing as you have finally acknowledged today is our anniversary I have a small gift I wanted to give you.” 

She pulled Casey by the hand till they were back in the living room where Alex quickly stepped over to a sideboard and retrieved a small parcel, neatly wrapped with a thin gold ribbon. Suddenly nervous she presented it somewhat shyly to the softly smiling Casey,

“It’s just a small thing, a little sentimental perhaps.”

Intrigued Casey carefully unwrapped the present as Alex sat watching on. Finally pulling the paper away Casey felt her heart melt as a light laugh escaped her throat,

“I hadn’t known you’d kept this one too,” she flicked her gaze to a smiling Alex before returning to lightly trace her fingertip over the framed polaroid picture of them from last year, leaning over the table, heads close together framed by coloured fairy lights, wide matching grins on their faces.

“Is it okay?” Alex’s insecurity was back, she hoped Casey understood that she had treasured the photos of that night and how much she therefore meant by giving it to her. Casey glanced up at her again, deep emotion and some mirth evident in her eyes,

“More than, just give me a moment,” Casey stood quickly and dashed off to Alex’s bedroom where she’d laid claim to a drawer many months ago and which Alex knew she had been hiding her Christmas presents in for several weeks now. She returned presently with a parcel which she handed to Alex,

“As I’d been working under the false assumption that tomorrow was our anniversary I was going to wait to give this to you till when we got back tomorrow night.” She motioned for Alex to open it, the blonde immediately tearing into the thin green tissue paper. In mere moments she revealed a smooth silver picture frame and she couldn’t help but contain the peal of laughter as she looked down on the polaroid that Casey had kept from the year before, the two of them stood in their side-armed hug, facing into the camera with soft smiles, even if Alex still held a hint of exasperation at the detective’s antics,

“I guess great minds think alike huh?” Casey’s self-depreciation drew Alex’s focus back up to her girlfriend’s face. Leaving the picture in her lap, she captured Casey’s face between her hands and kissed her, starting gently before losing herself to the love and passion she felt growing inside of her.

Pulling back she continued to cup Casey’s cheek,

“I know I said it earlier, but you really are quite perfect you know.” 

Grinning Casey reached for Alex’s hand and kissed it before continuing to hold it in her lap,

“Only quite? I guess I must do better then.”

Casey recognised the sudden pleased look in Alex’s eye and realised she had inadvertently stepped right into some sort of plan set out by the blonde and felt a shiver run up her spine – whether trepidation or excitement she really couldn’t tell.

“I’m so glad you said that darling, there is one other thing I’d like to do to mark our anniversary,”

Her interest piqued Casey leant forward, her hand gently running up Alex’s thigh as she grinned at her,

“Oh yes?”

Gulping heavily Alex quickly captured her hand and held it still,

“Okay maybe two, but before we get to that,” her wink sent heat coursing through Casey, “I want us to take a picture.”

Casey looked at her dumbfounded for a second, 

“A picture.”

“Yes, of the both of us. In front of the tree.”

“You want us to take a selfie?”

Letting out a huff Alex couldn’t quite understand why Casey was struggling to grasp the concept.

“Yes Casey, a selfie, or we could set a timer on your phone. I don’t care!” she crossed her arms in front of her almost petulantly, the motion drawing a quirk of Casey’s lips as she tried to supress a grin. Alex tried to remain aloof even though she felt an answering smile break across her own cheeks, 

“We have to. It’s tradition.”

Standing and offering her hands to Alex to pull her up too, Casey couldn’t help but tease her further,

“Just because something happened once, doesn’t make it a tradition.”

“It does if I say it does.”

“Yes dear,” Alex wanted to swat at Casey for her cheekiness but instead drew her in for playful kiss.

“I’m glad you finally got the memo. Now come on, I would like to get to that second form of celebrating before midnight.”

“Wait! I have an idea!” Alex rolled her eyes as Casey dived into a box of decorations she had left at the side, her glare becoming more pronounced as the redhead gleefully emerged with two strands of tinsel, a Santa hat and a pair of reindeer antlers that Alex hadn’t even realised she’d owned.

“No. Absolutely not.” She shook her head even as Casey dropped the hat on her head and draped the tinsel round her neck like a scarf, “I refuse entirely, I wanted a nice photo.”

“This will be a nice photo, you are in it.” 

The flattery was enough to get Alex to pause and allow herself to be positioned in front of the tree as Casey donned the antlers and her own tinsel garland. Sighing deeply Alex finally relented,

“Okay fine, so long as we get one without the props in a minute,” 

“Agreed.”

So even as she got her way - and was actually thoroughly entertained by their little photo-shoot, particularly when Casey took several of her kissing Alex’s cheek, her arms wrapped around her as she held the blonde - the thought crossed Alex’s mind that she couldn’t remember ever feeling happier, or more in love and it was all down to the beautiful if occasionally infuriating woman in front of her, and a little bit of bravery thanks to some mistletoe the year before.

They didn’t make it to bed before midnight but she made very sure that Casey knew how happy she was to celebrate Christmas with her and make up several more new traditions too.


End file.
